The great goodbye
by SpitfirePerson
Summary: Artemis POV. And i dont own YJ, but thats pretty obvious, otherwise why would be writing a fanfic? ;) Im new, so go easy on me.
1. The last mission

THIS IS IT.

The day. Of course, the day would be Conner's b'day… but the day is also, well, the day. Nothing is going well, and Black Manta just keeps shooting and shooting, and personally, I can't stay in hiding anymore. Time to make my move.

"Don't you even THINK about it." *sigh*

Psychic contact to me has been a constant pain. My thoughts and the link get mixed so much that baywa- I mean Wally's always got something with him to blackmail me with. At least he thinks so. I'm not the one to keep secrets (anymore, at least) so that 'blackmail plan' of his, it's not gonna work.

The bird. Don't even get me started…

"What about me?" Grr…

"That's it, why can't Aqualad handle this?

"DUH, 'cause he's… well…" Wow, never knew Wally had the ability to make me feel… emotional?

"Yeah, sorry I asked." I look back at Manta. "Mind if I…"

"Yes, I most certainly mind." Oh that stupid bird… "Artemis, stay in position. I thought that we talked about this…"

"You know what Robin, I'M DONE TALKING." And I creep out behind the rock I'm positioned behind.

"Artemi-"His voice is cut off. Like literally, cut off. The Manta dummy soldier, um, THING shoots at M'gann, who's positioned directly behind me.

"M'GANN!" Enough is enough for me. I rise up my bow in an attempt to shoot the guts out of the Manta robot thingamajig. But I'm too late.

M'gann looks at me and giggles, then turns back to the robot, tearing it apart. Oh… that psychic crash wasn't M'gann; it was Manta's telepathic scrambler.

"Thanks a lot, Artemis." I turn around to face Robin. I mean I'm literally making eye contact with him. A few years ago, I would be looking down at him, laughing at the back of my head. "You went out of position, and now, we turn to maneuver 43, beta… 7." Beta 7. Oh Artemis what have you got yourself into… Wally looks at me and sighs, slightly grinning. I am so killing you, once we are out of here.


	2. Ultra short chapter

"Would you quit it?" Mmm… what? Dammit wally.

"Quit what?" I mean what was I doing, that could annoy the WALLMAN!

"That muttering. You're scaring me. You keep muttering about how you were going to…"

"Never mind. What happened? Why am I in M'gann's bed?"

"Cause you kinda wrecked yours in sleep." I had nightmares… for the first time. Growing up with criminal parents, well, your life is pretty much a nightmare, so I used to have a pretty OK night those days…

"Wally… why am I here… as in… WHY AM I LYIN' DOWN?!"

"Beta 7."

"Ah." Glad I survived that.

It's so relaxing here… lying in bed in broad daylight… wally just randomly picking at a scab on his elbow… graduation is at 10:00am this morning…

I sit up. Wally looks at me, pretty startled. "What happened, Arty?"

"GRADUATION." Wally immediately loses his worried expression and replaces it with a huge grin. "I've already graduated." he says in a sing-song voice.

I just pull off the blanket, revealing a nightgown. Wally Covers his mouth and stifles a laugh. "That's all M'gann had. Sorry."

This will have to do. I run out her room, run into mine (where I sleep when we have overnight missions) and grab my robe and hurry over to the zeta tube.

_Recognized. Artemis. B06. _Come on, come on.

I rush out of the building and catch Conner just in time. "Hey Artemi-"

"Gotham academy. Can you make it in 10 minutes or less?"

"What am I, a cab driv-"

"Thanks Conner, I owe you one."

He sighs and then gets the t-ship out. I clamber into it, almost tripping over my darn robe. I sit down on one of the seats and pull my sneakers on. And by the time I'm done tying up the laces, we're there.

I get out of the ship and run down a few more blocks, finally arriving at Gotham Academy. I run down the stairs at the time the principal is making a speech about the academic topper. I suddenly notice Dick Grayson sitting down next to Barbara. He looks pretty tired too. I run, bumping into people, towards Bette and sit next to her.

"Artemis Crock." Just when I sat down.

I manage to get on stage and collect my degree. The minute the horribly long ceremony ends with Yamface or something, I hurry out of the academy and get back into the t-ship. Conner looks mildly annoyed, but I guess he's fine.

"Artemis, where were you?" Oh Megan.

"At graduation. Where's Robin?" Megan looks at me with wide, slightly surprised eyes. "Graduation."

_Recognized. Robin. B01._

Robin hurries in. "I'M BACK! WITH A PERFECT SCORE IN EVERYTHING except for social studies."

Wally walks into the living room and jumps on the sofa, putting his legs up on the armrest.

"Speaking of 'where's Robin', where's Zatanna?" Robin looks down, all his enthusiasm drained out of him.

"Watchtower."


	3. An idea

Yeah, sure I was happy for her. SHE'S TRYING OUT FOR THE JUSTICE LEAGUE, why shouldn't I be? But I'm gonna-

"Hey guys!" A greenish guy enters the room, looking exceptionally happy. "How are things?"

Wally jerks his head up, pulling his muscle in the process. Robin and Superboy look up and turn to face him. M'gann floats over to him. She looks exceptionally happy, too.

"How did he get in here?" Conner says pretty calmly, not worried about the little mutant boy.

M'gann giggles a bit. "I let him in."

Conner walks up to him and looks closer. "So you found a replacement for Zatanna." Robin clears his throat and Wally puts his head back down on the sofa. I just look away.

M'gann's smile is lost at once. She walks up to Conner and puts her hand on his shoulder. "No one can replace her. Besides, Aqualad's gonna be out for a while. After, you know…" Conner nodded and asked him what his name was. "Uh… L'gann. Call me, um, Lagoon boy." Lagoon boy? So, now we have Super boy, beast boy and now LAGOON BOY?

"I don't have time for this." I turn toward the kitchen, get myself a snack and walk out of the place, leaving behind everyone moving around as well. Cassie follows me, but then walks away out of the Zeta beam. I go to my room, Lie down on my bed and listing off our team's members. Robin, Aqualad, Super Boy, M'gann, me, Zatanna, Aqua gir- never mind. Beast boy, Garth, Wonder girl, bumble bee, Guardian, blah blah. Woah, that's a lot.

The door slowly creaks open. "Artemis?" A red head pops up. Ok, just to clarify, this is Wally, not M'gann. "I need to ask you something."

I sit up and crumple up the cover in which the chips came in, and aim for the dustbin. "Yeah? What is it?"

Wally comes in and sits next to me. My bed's side leans toward a wall. We both press our back to this wall and sit down. My knees are up and Wally's leg extend towards the end. "Now that we've graduated, what do you plan on doing?" Good question.

"I'm planning on doing something easy, and then get a job as a waitress or something. I'll go for literature, maybe." To be honest, I'm not sure.

Wally cocks his head to the side. "I'm not sure either."

Silence.

"Artemis," He looks at me. "How about we retire?"

"Re-Retire?" Why retire, I'm having fun. "What about the team?"

"The team has enough members and I'm sure they're gonna get some more so… it won't hurt."

We both stand up. I give him a peck on the cheek. "Okay. Tomorrow, first thing we do is find a place to live in."


	4. Wallman, meet Fridge

Wally's POV  
"No."  
You know, these are some of those moments when I start thinking that maybe Batman is just an arrogant snob in a Halloween costume.  
"Aw, come on Bats! We won't tear it down, PROMISE!"  
"NO." Oh my, capital letters. How scary.  
"Pretty pumpkin pastry plea-"  
"It's fine, Wally. If the I won't get you a place, you just have to save up." Well, that made me slump alright. Seriously though, we're 18, we've gotta get a job and put something in our pockets.  
Batman walks back to the team to give THEM their mission briefing. I suddenly notice that Robin's missing.  
"So, as you already know, we've got an advanced hacker on our hands. That is the reason why I'm here IN PERSON to-"  
"Wait, wait." Beast Boy. Beast Boy interrupts THE Batman.  
"Don't you have, like, a supercomputer?"  
"But the Team's computer doesn't look that super to me. Plus, everything in your computer is bugged. Must be one of you, since, as far as I know, only the Team has the security codes to the central processor. Unless..."  
And, ZONING OUT COMPLETE. We don't need to,worry about this. We can just walk out of that zeta beam, and enter college with a safe personal life. Perfect.  
"Where's Robin?" Oh, you notice NOW, Mr. Man of bats.

The whole team looks around, searching for a troll-faced bird, though nobody seems particularly worried.  
Why? Because he's kinda busy with his girlfriend of the week. And we all know that. That guy's a free bird now, after Zatanna and he broke up. Tough for the little dude.

But he's doing fine. Nevermind, back to Artemis and I. We have not found a house to live in, and it is getting a little annoying.  
"Baywatch?"  
I didn't even realize that my cell phone was on hold. I juggle it around before holding it up to my ear.  
"My mom had, uh, CONNECTIONS here in Paulo Alto, so-"  
"PAULO ALTO!? OF ALL THE PLACES?"  
Surprisingly no one looks at me, so I'm guessing that they were expecting that...  
"Yes, so she, um, GOT us a condo. And its a small one."  
"Does it have proper ventila-"  
"It has a fridge."  
"So, what curtains do you want? Pink or bubblegum?"  
We've got a place to stay. Fridge, come to the Wallman.


	5. Oh, how I love mini fridges

**AN: Ok, someone I would like to thank. My cuz, cause she gave up her account so that I can use it! PS, I'm horrible, but reviewing wont hurt. Promise.**

Woah. This place is seriously messed up. Metal band posters cover the wall and a five-week old burrito lies on the floor, staring coldly at me, shining like the guitar strings of Scream City's lead guitarist. I have no idea what Scream City is supposed to be, by the way.

Th bedroom, oh, the BEDROOM. It is heavenly. In a different way than you may think. MINI FRIDGE! IT'S MY VERY OWN... and it stink of rusty socks. I mean that seriously messed up, socks don't rust! So, sniff, into the trash it goes. I miss it already. Artemis is just really mean sometimes.

So, we're left with a tiny single bed, that creaks under the slightest of weight, a dresser that is smeared with re lipstick marks, and a chest of drawers that lean dangerously to the left.

Artemis leaves me with clean up duty, and she rummages through the store room, that was once the bathroom.  
I now understand what that horrible smell from the mini fridge was. Poor guy didn't have a bathroom. Glad I threw that out. Darn mini fridge.

So I open up the window, that is my only portal to outside world and let all of the dust and smells and smoke from the A.C find a way out of this prison. As I reach out to close the window a sight almost makes me trip and fall out from about 5 floors up. Okay, okay, I've faced worse. Anyway, there he was, stiffly sitting on the edge of a lamppost, looking really different already, with a stubble and a mini- fridge kind of smell.

Roy. Roy Harper. Red arrow.


	6. Vietnamese is amazing

Yay! We've got our internet connection, our FRIDGE(not mini, mind you) filled with, um, FOOD(okay, not filled), and a sleeping alcoholic under the sofa. All of the old stuff's out, the new stuff's in, Mrs. Crock visits every 3 hours, and Artemis vacuumed the place. Just a little poster ripping, and then we're done.

But, why would Roy be in Paulo Alto, sitting on a lamppost, with a torn domino mask and a stubble? Unless he's still obsessed over 'THE REAL ROY HARPER' of his. Whom he is probably still obsessed over.

"Well, decided on a college?" Artemis walks into the bedroom, where I sit dusting the pillows on the new bigger creaky bed.  
"Nope. You?"  
"Yup. I got you in, to."  
"What? HOW?!"  
"Um, actually I just had to write your name down. The college is getting kinda desperate. But you still have a test. On Vietnamese literature."  
"Ok, Artemis, I love you and your origin and your decisions are smart and I love learning about people from southeast Asia, but... I DONT KNOW VIETNAMESE AND I DONT CARE ABOUT ITS LITERATURE SO YOU CAN TAKE VIETNAMESE LIT. ON YOUR OWN! I hope you understand."  
"Its multiple choice."  
"Sign me up for some Vietnamese lit. Cause I think, I'm gonna.. Um... Ok its 4 o'clock, we've gotta tell the Team."  
Artemis loses her smile and manages to crack another one. " Yeah, we don't want them to worry.

AN: Fslstsbzgakapsnzhakdb! I don't know what to say, so thanks? No, that doesn't sound right. OMG, I am already on the 6th chapter! You don't have to rate, but review and tell me how to stop being an idiot. Special thanks to PrettyKitty Luvs U because ur review just pointed out all of the bad stuff, while not insulting. So, next ones coming around next month. Going for vaca.


	7. The end

Artemis POV

"Well, uh, it's been a lot of fun and all but W-W-Wally and I..." why can't I talk? I've rehearsed this SOO many times, how different can this be? Sure it's the real thing and M'gann's tearing up and approaching me, but, it's just goodbye? We're not gonna be gone forever, right? Big deal.

_Big deal._

M'gann walks up to me and pulls me into her embrace. She speaks to me in a wavering voice, but I can decipher all of her words and my mind isn't thinking clearly either.

"Artemis, You were my best friend. I-I mean you still are but... Now your not, um-"

"The green arrow rip off anymore?" Robin's voice finishes. Voice. A 16 year old Robin enters from the training room. Though he doesn't exactly look like Robin anymore.

"Robin-" Wally starts.

"I go by Nightwing now." He says smirking again. He puts his hand on my shoulder. It feels cold and it's most probably shivering. He looks and Wally and starts laughing. Wally bursts into laughter too. I just don't get them.

We walk toward the Zeta beam for the last time. Before we get to the other side, I look back at Conner.

"I still owe you one."


End file.
